A New Look For Your Outdoor Furniture

Make Your Outdoor Furniture Stand Out

Liven-Up Your Outdoor Furniture

When you've just brought your patio chairs and tables up from the basement or from the garage, you may have found out that they do not look as fresh and new as you might like. If you want to invest a few hours, instead of several hundred dollars for new furniture, you can get a fresh new look using a bit of spray paint.

Decorator's Choice

Spray paint has improved over the years. It used to be available only in a few standard basic colors. But over the past few years, companies have developed a wide variety of interesting colors. You're no longer confined to the standard primary red, white, and navy when choosing a color scheme. For instance, Colonial or Berry Red, Moss Green and Taupe, and a range of five various blues and three other hues of yellow make it easy to produce an entirely new look for outdoor living.

Here are some pointers for spray-painting like a pro.

The following are tips to make the job easier and longer lasting so you won't have to go through this process again next year.

1. Painting alfresco is ideal and it's best to do this if the temperature is above fifty degrees.

2. Loose rust and paint needs to be removed using sandpaper or a wire brush. Glossy surfaces have to be lightly sanded to keep the paint from "sliding" and permit good bonding.

3. Built up dirt, oil, and grease can spoil the paint's adhesion and cause flaking. Clean your furniture with soap and water and rinse well. Allow to dry completely.

4. For an extra long-lasting finish, you may use a primer before the top coat. There are various spray primers for different surfaces, like clean metal primer, rusty metal primer, aluminum and wood primer.

5. Shake the aerosol can vigorously for at least a minute after the mixing ball starts to rattle, and shake often throughout the use. Perhaps the biggest mistake most people make when spray-painting is that they hold the can so close to the object and they don't keep moving it to and fro. The only way to get a truly smooth finish without drips is by holding the can about twelve to sixteen inches from the surface and spray in a steady back-and-forth motion overlapping every stroke. Always keep the can in motion and put on two or more light coats a few minutes apart instead of one heavy coat.

6. Allow the piece about two to four hours for drying to touch. It would take about five or six hours to dry for handling. But it's best to leave it drying overnight prior to using it.

7. When finished, turn the can upside down and spray till no paint comes out. This will clear the nozzle for the next use.

Decorative Touches

You don't have to enclose yourself to a plain painted table or chairs. When you've painted the surface, add an ornamental stencil design to the backs of chairs or on the tabletop. Or use two coordinating colors to produce an interesting piece of furniture. For instance, paint the top of an occasional table using a cream color and with a shade of green like teal or hunter for the rim and legs. Paint each of the chairs a different subtle color so they're coordinated. You might use another natural shade for each one.